MLB Baseball: Sunday, September 8, 2013 at 4:10 pm (Safeco Field)

Matt Moore (L) (15-3) (3.269) vs. Erasmo Ramirez (R) (5-1) (5.062)

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The Seattle Mariners will have their brooms in hand on Sunday as the Mariners look for the clean sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Seattle Mariners aren’t playing for much right now, but Seattle is still chugging along as the Mariners are doing what they can to put a damper on Tampa’s wild card hopes. The Mariners earned a solid 6-2 win over Tampa on Saturday, with Paxton getting the start. Paxton only lasted six innings, but was solid, allowing just two runs (one earned off of a HR). The Mariners will be looking to Erasmo Ramirez on Sunday to secure the sweep of the Rays. Ramirez has a solid record of 5-1 on the year, but with an ERA of 5.07 he has been anything but dominant. Ramirez has just faced the Rays twice in his career, with one start against Tampa. Ramirez has struggled against Tampa Bay, having an ERA of 6.00 and a WHIP of 1.50. While pitching at home this season, Ramirez is 2-1 with an ERA of 6.20 and a WHIP of 1.66.

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The Tampa Bay Rays have to be fatigued from this road trip, but still the Rays need a win in Seattle on Sunday. This will be the tenth straight road game for Tampa, and the Rays have to be looking forward to their day off on Monday before they head home to face the Red Sox. The Rays, after their loss on Saturday have now dropped even in the wild card race with the Rangers. Tampa will need a strong outing from Matt Moore on Sunday in Seattle. Moore is fresh of the DL, but in his last outing the Rays starter was solid, lasting five and a third innings and getting a win over the Angels. In Moore’s career against the Mariners, the Tampa lefty has a record of 1-1 and an ERA of 1.80 and a WHIP of 1.00 in three career starts. Moore has also been money on the road, going 8-1 this season with an ERA of 3.02 and a WHIP of 1.22.

The Rays have done well against lefties this season, going 26-21, while the Mariners are just 20-28 against left handed starters on the year. Also, when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season, the Rays are 24-10.

This road trip has been rough on the Rays, which is evident in their offensive production. Tampa is scoring just 2.9 runs per outing in their last seven, while giving up an average of 4.6 runs per game during that span.

I like Moore in his match up with the Mariners, but right now I just don’t trust this Tampa team, especially giving this much juice. The Mariners are a bad team, no doubt, but Tampa looks deflated, and on the year the Rays are just 4-10 overall in the game before a break. I wouldn’t get crazy with it, but I’ll be on the Mariners on Sunday night.

Seattle +135

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